While the start of 2025 brought with it much optimism about high traveler numbers, the projections did not pan out for every airline.
By September, two Scandinavian airlines — Play and Braathens Aviation — left travelers in different parts of the world stranded after suddenly having to shut down operations amid high-profile bankruptcies.
Earlier in the year, Ravn Alaska, Air Belgium, and SKS Airways in Malaysia all also shut down operations. Larger names such as WizzAir and Qantas Airways shut down their branches in Abu Dhabi and Singapore.
At the end off October, news also broke that charter carrier Verijet was filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The Vero Beach, Florida-based airline had amassed over $38.7 million in liabilities and faced a slew of lawsuits when 60-year-old founder Richard Kane died suddenly from a heart attack at the end of September.
Details about Verijet and where it flew
As first reported by an outlet covering the private jet space, the filing was submitted in the 11th circuit of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida. Contrary to the more common Chapter 11, Chapter 7 bankruptcy means that the owners are not looking to restructure or requesting financial assistance but will head straight into liquidation.
With a fleet of single-engine Cirrus SF50 Vision jets, Verijet ran short-haul flights in different regions of the U.S.
Related: Tourists still stranded after airline goes bankrupt, cancels flights
In 2023, the airline also expanded to the Bahamas and other international destinations like the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, and the Cayman Islands as part of very rapid growth since Kane founded Verijet at the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020.
In 2023, Verijet was recorded as the 13th-largest operator of charter and fractional flights in the country. Its $38.7 million in liabilities included over $10.5 million owed to jet card customers (individuals and corporations that lease private jet as part of an hourly or daily rate for a business model commonly used by such operators), as well as additional debts to aircraft lessors, insurance companies, and various creditors.
Image source: Shutterstock
Financial problems led to Verijet’s bankruptcy
In November 2024, customer Sam Crigman sued Verijet in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Miami-Dade County after purchasing a 50-hour jet card for $147,812 back in March.
The lawsuit claimed there were “numerous delays, canceled flights, and countless excuses for Verijet’s failure to provide the flight services.” Since Kane’s death, the carrier has not been running flights and is unlikely to run them in the future, since it’s asking a judge to go straight to liquidation.
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In April 2025, the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit awarded another customer Brandon Kruse a default judgment of $328,000 over flights that the carrier did not provide. Similar lawsuits were also filed by several charter companies booking Verijet to run flights to their clients as well as lessors and former employees.
In a statement released in response when the court awarded Kruse the funds, Verijet said that its “jet card program does not offer guaranteed service” and that it has “taken this experience to heart and used it as a catalyst for positive change.”
Related: Regional airline declares bankruptcy, customers may not get refunds
